Time bomb

It’s been more than three years since the Manolis L started leaking oil from the bottom of Newfoundland and Labrador’s Notre Dame Bay.

Finally, it seems efforts to remove the oil from the sunken ship are starting to gather momentum, with the federal government dedicating $6 million in its 2016 budget to assess what needs to be done. A federal request for proposals (RFP) has been issued for a technical assessment of the site, and to determine what will be involved in removing the oil. That’s expected to be awarded in the next week or two.

The wreck is situated in one of North America’s richest areas for marine wildlife. Humpback whales, dolphins, seals and turtles, as well as several endangered species of birds, all make their home in the bay. The area is also part of Iceberg Alley, where massive 10,000-year-old glacial giants from the Arctic pass by each spring, drawing tourists from around the world.

The Liberian-flagged Manolis L struck Blow Hard Rock in January of 1985 near the Change Islands on the northeast coast of the province. Loaded with almost 3,000 tonnes of newsprint, the ship sank with nearly 500 tonnes of bunker C fuel oil, 60 tonnes of diesel and 22.5 tonnes of lube oil on board and settled in more than 70 metres of water.

Not all of it has stayed on board. After more than 28 years of lying quiet, a storm in March 2013 caused the Manolis to shift, creating cracks in the hull and allowing the bunker — a highly toxic heavy oil — to start seeping out.

The Canadian Coast Guard’s environmental response unit placed several neoprene seals on the wreck in the spring of 2013 to stop the oil. In the summer, cofferdams — anchored upside-down metal boxes — were placed on the wreck, but residents were still discovering and reporting oil well into the fall. On December 21, one of the cofferdams shifted, releasing more than 1,000 litres of oil into the bay, which coated the shoreline, marine life and seabirds with a molasses-like tar that stuck to everything it touched.

“The devastation from oil is unbelievable,” said Carolyn Parsons, co-chair of the Manolis L Citizens Response Committee. “I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it.

“I grew up near the Change Islands. It’s beautiful, just the prettiest little place. To see oil up on the shore, sea gulls and ducks covered in it, seals dying on the ice, it was devastating.”

Cofferdam lowered into place from a Coast Guard vessel.

A new crack was sealed in December 2013 and the following month, the Coast Guard lowered a redesigned cofferdam — but alarmed residents had already started pushing hard for the oil to be removed entirely. Although the RFP for a technical assessment has been issued, Parsons said it would make sense to combine that with an RFP for the actual removal of the oil, especially given the small number of companies in the world capable of handling such an operation.

All assessment work at the site has to be completed by September 15, which — combined with the short weather window — means actual removal of the oil likely will have to wait until at least next year.

“Our committee has met with three different salvage companies and all say they could do an assessment in a brief period of time, come up with a plan and implement it this year,” Parsons said. “We don’t understand why they can’t do both RFPs at the same time. Everyone is in agreement that something has to be done, so kicking it down the road another year is ridiculous.”

If the government puts the work off to 2017, she said, there’s nothing stopping it from putting it off until 2018.

“The pace is too slow for comfort. We want this done this year and the provincial government has said the same thing.”

Right now the Manolis is bottom-up on the side of an ocean slope and fairly stable, with its tanks pointing upwards — a position Parsons said experts have deemed perfect for drilling in and removing the oil.

But storms and strong currents are the norm in the North Atlantic — and they’re not doing the Manolis any favours. This past spring, when the regular assessment was done and the cofferdam emptied by the Coast Guard, another new leak was discovered and sealed, she noted.

“What if they do the technical assessment and the wreck moves or shifts or something changes? How much of the technical data will apply then, a year from now?” Parsons said. “It’s a very vulnerable wreck that’s deteriorating at a rapid pace. Every day the ocean and the salt are working on it.”

The devastation from the oil is unbelievable.
— Carolyn Parsons

The Manolis L was built in 1980 of carbon steel — at the time, a common material for shipbuilding. But it’s prone to rust quickly. While a coating system can delay that for about six years at a time, the Manolis L was at the end of its coating protection when it sank, which means the hull has been losing thickness ever since. Currents can also cause steel to degrade faster — and in Notre Dame Bay, they’re strong.

In some places, the ship’s steel is just millimetres thick. At the thickest part, it’s less than 12 mm. Measurements taken by a remotely-operated underwater vehicle (ROV) average just over 10 mm. Essentially, 88 per cent of the structure’s strength is gone.

“It’s a wonder she hasn’t collapsed on herself at this point,” Kevin Strowbridge, a naval architect at Memorial University’s Marine Institute, told a meeting of concerned citizens last winter.

He’s spent a long time studying the wreck and figures there are parts of the hull worn so thin you could poke your finger through them. Given the number of cracks in the Manolis L, its internal structure is failing — which eventually will lead its hull to do the same.

“The Manolis L is a chronic spill that has the potential to be a catastrophic spill. It’s just physics. It’s going to break up.” Ian Jones, a seabird ecologist from Memorial University, said last winter.

Jones — who took part in the clean-up effort after the Exxon Valdez ran aground in Alaska in 1989, spilling hundreds of thousands of barrels of crude oil — said it doesn’t take too much imagination to grasp the devastation a spill from the Manolis would cause and the suffering it would inflict on wildlife.

“Bunker oil is one of the deadliest things that can interact with nature.”

Wade Spurrell is the assistant commissioner with the Canadian Coast Guard responsible for Atlantic Canada. He said he understands the Citizens Response Committee’s concerns and residents’ frustration, but based on the experience gleaned from dealing with other wrecks — including the Brig.-Gen. M.G. Zalinski in British Columbia and the Argo in Lake Erie — he believes doing the assessment first is the best approach.

“Getting all the information you need before you start is critical,” Spurrell said. “We need to identify where the oil is and how much is there, and we need to know exactly how she sits and how stable she is. Until you have that, it’s difficult to determine the best way to get the oil out.”

In the case of the Argo, crews went in expecting to find oil but found benzene. They had to step back, retool and start again.

“With the Zalinksi, we found out the condition inside had deteriorated more than we thought and there was less oil. We were prepared for a different operation (known as hot tapping) and had to change on the fly.”

In addition to gauging depths and currents, the assessment will determine the best approach and ensure the right resources are on scene.

“There’s always the possibility that when you touch the wreck, there could be a release, so you’ve got to be prepared for that too,” Spurrell said.

It’s just physics. It’s going to break up.
— Ian Jones

“What we’ve learned from wrecks like the Zalinski and the Argo is that all you know for sure is what was on the ship when it sank. I know where the oil is supposed to be in the wreck, but we don’t know if it’s moved into cargo holds or elsewhere. We could find out the oil is in many compartments. It’s already in the hull, we know that.”

To date, the feds have spent about $2 million dollars managing leaks on the Manolis. Any Coast Guard ship that passes through the area monitors the site, as do Coast Guard helicopters. Transport Canada aircraft are used for regular aerial surveillance. Since 2013, 177 flights have passed over the site. Spurrell said Coast Guard officers visit the site of the Manolis each spring and fall to empty the cofferdams and weighted neoprene bags that collect leaking oil. A ROV is sent to the bottom as well to inspect the state of the ship and check for new leaks.

“We’ve gathered a lot of experience from this wreck. Every time we go back we learn more about it,” Spurrell said. “If it shifts, some of the information we glean (in the technical assessment) might be affected, but we haven’t seen any movement in the wreck since we started putting the ROVs down. Things we’ve put on the bottom are still there where we’ve put them when we go back.”

He said the Coast Guard has been very clear that while the cofferdam seals are working, they’re not mitigating the overall risk. “We’ve stopped oil from leaking into the environment and we’ve removed oil from the cofferdams, but it’s not a permanent solution to the oil in the vessel.”

“The government’s key message is that they’re committed to finding a real solution. It’s one of the biggest priorities we’ve got in this region. I understand people want it done yesterday, but this assessment is an important step to cleaning it up.”

It certainly hasn’t always been that way. Liberal MP Scott Simms represents the Coast of Bays-Central-Notre Dame; he said there was a time when the Conservative government deemed the cofferdams to be a permanent solution to the problem. Later, then-Fisheries Minister Gail Shea announced a permanent solution was being sought.

“It was all under a shroud of fog. And we probably lost a whole year in the process,” Simms said. “They had a good idea of how (to deal with the oil), which is why I fail to understand why they ever would have said the cofferdam was a permanent solution. This assessment should have been done when the Manolis started leaking, so I don’t know if they dropped the ball or just held onto it too long.”

During last fall’s election campaign, the Liberals and NDP both promised to clean up the wreck. Simms said he had no trouble convincing everyone of the urgency involved when he put in the request for budget consideration.

“I didn’t have to beg to get this done. People know what’s at stake here. Both the prime minister and finance minister have been to (nearby) Fogo Island. They know what nature will be spoiled and what a disaster a spill would be.”

The impact would extend well beyond the environmental, in fact. Already, fisherman avoid the area; in an area where so many rely on the sea for their livelihood through fishing and tourism, the economic impact of a spill would be huge. It would be a political calamity as well; no government wants a major oil spill hitting in the news when it had ample time to prevent it.

But as long as the assessment is moving ahead, Simms said he’s happy.

There’s just too much to lose.
— Carolyn Parsons

“I’m gonna let them do their thing for now and take it as it comes. Get the assessment, look at what we have and then look at the permanent solution.”

Simms said the government is committed to keeping the public informed on the wreck’s status. Parsons said the committee has noticed a huge difference in communications and engagement. She just hopes they hear the time-bomb ticking.

“This is on my mind every day. It’s always there, hanging over you,” she said. “It’s such a rich, important piece of the ocean.”

“In a situation like we have here in Newfoundland now, where there economy is so threatened, it’s vulnerable. Imagine throwing an oil spill in Notre Dame Bay on top of that. There’s just so much to lose.”

Born in Newfoundland and raised in Labrador, Holly Lake is an award-winning journalist who inherited her province’s passion for storytelling. Over the years she’s covered the education, court, police and health beats, writing about everything from a press conference held by an alpaca on death row to flawed drug policies that were costing patients their lives. She’s eternally curious, loves the challenge of telling stories in new ways and is happiest by, on, in or underwater (diving).